Another Tradition

We have another tradition in the White household and I've yet to meet another family that does this.

Each Christmas Eve we light a bayberry candle and burn it completely. Bayberry is a fragrant shrub that grows in northern climes having small waxy berries from which you can make candles. According to our tradition, once the candle is lit, you're not allowed to blow it out. It must remain lit till all the wax is consumed.

Why do we do this? Mostly because my grandparents always did it and we are just carrying on the tradition. But this tradition has a small rhyme and a superstition attached to it:

Bayberry candle burned to the socket,
Brings health to your home,
Food to your larder,
And wealth to your pocket.

So far, it's worked, mostly. I'd be very reluctant to NOT burn the bayberry candle. Who knows what kind of catastrophe would ensue? This year the candle was still burning when I woke up. And for the first time ever, I actually watched as the last of the wax was consumed and the candle flickered out.

If you didn't burn a bayberry candle in your house this year, consider this one burned for you.
K-